“I feel good now. I like to stay this way. Do you think I am making a mistake?” His penetrating, small blue eyes told me he didn’t want me to disagree with him.

“Your heart could start racing,” I warned him. “Let me see you in a few weeks to make sure you’re not going into heart failure.”

Two weeks later, Sumner had gained five pounds. His legs were swollen, he was short winded and his irregular pulse was 130.

“Your heart is missing the diltiazem,” I said.

“I can’t take it,” Sumner answered. I knew he had already tried a beta blocker a few years ago, and his pulse had dropped to 40 on the lowest dose.

“How about trying something natural?”

His eyebrows rose. I continued: “There is an old herbal remedy, made from foxglove, called digitalis. It may slow your heart down enough to get you out of trouble.”

A week later, Sumner looked like he’d take on something much bigger than the rooster again. His pulse was 80 and his weight was back to its baseline. Leaning back in his chair, he said: “The third day I took your medicine, I could feel my heart slow down. I knew that herb medicine would be good. You do all right by me.”

“I figured something more natural might work for you,” I answered. “Besides, it was the only other thing I could think of.”

“I like you. You have common sense,” he said as he offered me his large hand.

When something natural does indeed work 6 comments

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guest

A lovely story. Often we must acknowledge that western medicine does NOT have all the answers and may do more harm than good.

FEDUP MD

Talk about missing the point (facepalm). The doctor put the patient on digoxin for his afib. Digoxin is a medication derived from the digitalis plant. It is a standard of care of “western” treatment and has been for years. He’s just putting it in a way that the patient will accept, although in reality it’s no different from the other meds he has tried.

I would like to tell you about an exciting herbal discovery. Did you know that willow bark can prevent heart attacks, reduce strokes, treat pain and inflammation, and possibly reduce your risk of some cancers? Sounds wonderful, right? Well, you can get this wonder herb by going to your neighborhood pharmacy and finding a big bottle labelled “aspirin.” Yup, that’s where the molecule comes from.

Do you know what happens when an herb is proven to work? We find a way to mass produce it and call it “medicine.”

guest

I admit I read this piece after several glasses of wine. In the light of day I see clearly. Whoops!

DoubtfulGuest

It is still a lovely story.

We all need to put our feet up sometimes.

DoubtfulGuest

“And it doesn’t have any chemicals in it.”

FEDUP MD

Make sure it doesn’t have any dihydrogen monoxide in it. I hear it’s in lots of stuff. Ban all chemicals!